Parental Control
by Geek Scribe
Summary: As Cream's parental figure Amy had a lot of power. She controlled what her sister ate, where she was, who she talked to. But Amy's about to realize there are some things she can't control, like who Cream dates, who that boyfriend's dad is and the fact that this suburban father is about to change her entire life. So sit back and watch as things get complicated. SonAmy. AU.


Heart pounding, mind throbbing, soul aching, tears running. It's funny how I wasn't able to feel any of that in my grief. All I could register was a tiny hand pressed against my palm, shaking, frightened, entering into territory that I child never should.

Stay strong, Amy. Stay strong.

No matter how many times I told myself that my knees still felt weak and my flesh still felt like the slightest touch might peel it away, free me from the physical pain of the moment. This moment...

"If you'll just follow me, Miss Rose."

The doctor's voice wasn't warm, it offered no comfort. It was formal, cold, devastatingly rehearsed. Couldn't he show some sympathy? Some sadness?

I nodded my head and took a deep breath, stepping forward down the white halls. I walked slowly. I didn't want to see what's up ahead. Despite my shallow steps, Cream had a hard time keeping up.

"Are we going to see Mommy?" She asked, big brown eyes looking up to me.

I felt like sobbing. How could fate be so cruel? Cream was so young, so fragile, so ill prepared. Now she had no parents to guide her through it. All she had left was me: a first year college student with no job, no plans and barely enough money to make ends meet. It just wasn't fair.

"Yes," I answered her. The word came out cracked and frail. "Yes, we are."

"I'm sorry for your loss," the doctor's apology was forced and uncomfortable as he opened the door for us.

I almost didn't want to enter. I didn't want to see this. My mother had been such a bright light, my father an ever present hand to help and hold in times of trouble. Now here they were, lying lifeless on their tables, covered by white sheets and pale with blood loss.

"Where's Mommy?"

Cream tried to pull ahead and away from me but I gripped her hand tightly. I didn't want her to see. I didn't want her to know. I wanted to go home and play pretend until Mom and Dad came home from their date night. Was that too much to ask? That they'll just wake up and come home like any other Friday night.

"Amy! Where's Mommy?" The baby rabbit cried angrily at my side.

I shook my head and closed my eyes, letting her fingers escape my grasp. She bolted towards the tables and peered over them. Her hands just brushed the corner of one sheet as she managed to pull it back. It was a red hedgehog, wearing that ridiculous moustache he always refused to shave. Mom always hated that.

"Daddy? Daddy, wake up. It's not bed time."

My God this was painful. I covered my mouth with my shaking hands and tried to hold my breath. I burst into tears anyways. It's not the same soft tears I had shed since then. It was the flood gates being opened. I screamed, I sobbed, I made every horrid noise possible. This is not fair. It's not fair. What justifies the decision of one drunk man to wreak this much havoc on my life? On Cream's life?

"Daddy! Mommy! Wake up!" She screamed shrilly, clawing at the corpses, trying to move them. "Wake up!"

I walk over to her and hold her. She still flails and screams. Who can blame her? Her world is torn to pieces at the age of five. She has every right to scream and cry and flail. So I let her. I just stand there and I let her.

* * *

"That's the last box."

"Finally!" Cream cheered.

She collapsed onto our sofa with a thud, groaning and caressing her aching muscles as she did.

"I thought we'd never be done," she sighed. "How long have we been unpacking? A week?"

"Three days," I corrected her. "And it wasn't that bad. We don't have that much stuff. Besides, now it's done-"

"Yay!"

"-and you can start getting ready for school."

"Not yay."

I smiled at my younger sister's dejected face.

I knew this all must have been pretty hard on her. I would have been traumatized if Mom and Dad tried to move me across the country at the age of sixteen, half way through the school year, no less. But Cream was taking this relatively well. She hadn't yelled or shouted, there were no slamming doors in my face.

She understood that this was a step that needed to be taken. After all, going from a managing position to a franchise owner was a big upgrade. How could I turn it down? Our standard of life just went through the roof. We had started out in a rundown one room apartment and now we worked our way to a suburban bungalow in the nicest part of town.

The only problem left was adjusting, which, to a hormonal teenaged girl, would be pretty hard.

"Cream," I cooed over her as though she were still a child. "Don't worry about school, okay? You're taking all those artsy classes you love this semester and I'm sure you'll make friends fast enough."

"You think so?" She asked, glancing over at me with those big, brown puppy eyes.

"I know so," I assured her. "Now go take a shower. I can smell your sweat from over here."

"Amy!"

"I'm just saying."

Cream ran down the hall towards the bathroom and yelled something about me stinking more, yadda, yadda, yadda, and I was left to my own devices.

I took a whiff and realized my baby sister wasn't wrong. I did kind of stink. I made my way over to my room and into the master bathroom to freshen up. It took me ten minutes tops to shower, put my hair up, put decent clothes on and get on with my day. Cream was a different story.

"You out yet?" I asked, knocking on her washroom door. "If you are, I was thinking we could go out for lunch or something."

"Not done," she called back.

I rolled my eyes. How could she not be done yet? Here is the dilemma with tomboys raising girly girls: we never understand them.

"Hurry up or I'll leave without you."

"No you won't."

She knew me too well. It was an empty threat at best.

That's when the doorbell rang. Instead of ear the piercing buzz that we got back in our old apartment it was the nice, stereotypical ding dong. Music to my ears.

I went to answer the door, glancing around and realizing that our modest yet cozy foyer was much easier to open the door to than, well, whatever mess we had before. Overall, everything about this place was just better. Call me materialistic as much as you like, but you try raising a kid in a bad town where your only shelter is four flimsy walls and then get back to me.

I turned the shiny, golden knob to see the smiling face of a silver hedgehog. He had a baby strapped to his chest, a toddler clinging to his leg and held a beautiful, freshly baked apple pie in his hands. The aroma was to die for. I could only imagine how it tasted.

"Welcome to the neighbourhood."

"Thank you," I chirped, ecstatic that this kind of greeting had actually happened at some point in my life. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, sure."

His little girl, a white kitten, followed him in like a duckling while his baby snuggly rested against his chest.

I took the pie from him as he kicked off his shoes and left them at the door matt. I literally wanted to squeal. It was just like those sitcoms where communities were stable and neighbours were polite. I just couldn't get enough of it.

"Come in," I insisted, ushering him into the family room. "Have a seat."

He looked around, smiling as he did, and uttered a small compliment to my home.

"I heard you had kids," he added as he sat.

"Just one girl and not mine. She's my sister."

"How old?"

"Sixteen."

The look on his face obviously read his thoughts. It's like a babysitter detector had been triggered in his brain as he scanned the room.

"Is that so? Does she like kids?"

I grinned. "Loves them."

"Noted."

"What's your name, by the way?" I asked, taking the seat beside him.

His ears perked up and he chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, that completely slipped my mind. I'm Silver Hedgehog and these are my kids." He raised his ankle and my attention turned to the little kitten who was hanging on it. She seemed very attached. "This is Chrysa and this little guy here is Todd."

Todd yawned as if on cue when his father spoke his name. He was such a tiny little hoglet with wavy lilac quills and the sweetest button nose I had ever seen. He was the second cutest baby I'd ever laid eyes on, the first being Cream, but I might be a little biased.

"How old?" I wondered aloud.

"Three for Chrysa and four months for Todd."

"Aw," I purred over them. "They're so sweet."

Silver smiled in pride as Chrysa let go of him, crawling onto the couch and into his lap.

"I know," he gloated briefly. Something seemed to catch him from his train of thought as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! I was supposed to invite you to-"

"Amy! I'm done. Are you ready to go?"

My sister hopped into the room excitedly. Only after a moment did she notice the guest sitting beside me on the couch.

"Cream, this is Mr. Hedgehog and his children, Chrysa and Todd. They live next door," I explained.

"Oh, hello," she greeted politely.

"Did you have plans?" Silver asked.

My ears pinned back as I tried to keep him in his seat. "No, no plans."

"Amy was going to take me out to lunch," Cream gushed.

I frowned. Couldn't she see that leaving when a friendly neighbour came to visit was rude? I gave her a look and she smiled sheepishly back. Yeah, she realized it now.

"No, that's alright," Silver concluded, standing. "You go ahead. But before I leave I was supposed to give you this."

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to me.

"What's this?" I inquired.

"An invitation to the community council meeting tonight," he told me. "It's great. Just a group of contributing community members discussing public issues, planning events, doing all that stuff. It's less boring than it sounds."

I smiled. "And you're a member?"

"One of only two men there," he replied. "I'm pretty proud of it."

I nodded, considering the invite for awhile before answering. "That sounds great. I'll definitely be there to check it out."

"Great! I guess I'll see you around then."

I walked him to the door, waving goodbye all the while. He seemed so nice. I'd definitely look to be friends with him.

"He has kids," Cream giggled happily. "Maybe I'll be able to babysit."

That was just like her. Meet an apparently connected, influential man and only see his adorable children.

"Let's go, Cream," I said, grabbing my purse. "We can stop by your school and check it out on the way there."

I was having a good feeling about this place. This was going to be great. Our life here would be great.

* * *

**I was worried about taking on this project because it would mean juggling two on-going stories and possibly publishing some mature content, but I really think this story is worth it. It inspired me to write and I hope it will inspire all of you to read. **

**Reviews**** are welcome. I'd like very much to know what you guys all think.**


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